


Kissing Contest

by FFlove190



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Fluff, Multi, UA
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:34:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21926782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FFlove190/pseuds/FFlove190
Summary: In a world where the boys all got to retire, Zack and Cloud make a bet about who can get the most kisses.
Relationships: Zack Fair/Angeal Hewley/Genesis Rhapsodos/Sephiroth/Cloud Strife
Comments: 3
Kudos: 77
Collections: FF7 Secret Santa 2019





	Kissing Contest

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GrandpaSooshie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrandpaSooshie/gifts).



It started, like a lot of things between them, with a kiss. 

When Cloud and Zack kissed it was always so  _ fun _ . Every kiss made them feel weightless, jittery with excitement, and plain dumb. 

Yheir dumbest ideas came to fruition whenever they kissed. Zack pulled away and stared Cloud dead in the eye with the promise of mischief. 

"I bet I can get more kisses than you!" Zack announced. 

It was a tame bet compared to other ones they'd had. Like the one that was: who could climb that mountain faster (if anyone asked Zack, Cloud was a dirty cheater for using his bike), or who could skinny dip in a frozen lake longer (if anyone asked Cloud, it had been a stupid bet to take because no one could out-stubborn Zack) or the one this morning about who could throw knives closer to the center of a dead tree stump (that was a tie, but only because Angeal intervened). They got up to a lot of trouble when they kissed, whether or not they were at hope or aa chqbce meet up on the road as couriers and mercenaries do sometimes. 

"What?" Cloud pushed at Zack; Zack didn't budge. "No way you can beat me."

Once upon a time, Cloud and Zack hadn’t kissed each other stupid. They’d still done the sort of stupid things that only two SOLDIER could get up to between missions, but that was just a different kind of stupid (mostly involving squats honestly). Back then, Cloud had been happily with Angeal. Thoughts of being with Zack were just thoughts: it wasn’t like a relationship could contain more than two people anyway.

So it had been years. Tens of years until Zack and Cloud first got to kiss. And that first kiss had been just as fun as all the rest. And just like all the rest, it had been followed by a bad decision (fooling around in the chocobo pen usually pisses off a chocobo).

"Afraid you'll lose, Cloudy?" Zack smiled toothily. It stretched all the scars on his face. 

Cloud was pressed against the kitchen counter and Zack’s muscled arms were intent on keeping him there. The cookies and cider they had been fetching were prepped and ready for delivery. Laughter floated in from the living room like a cozy domestic blanket. 

"Pff. What? No never. I can beat you anytime, any place." Cloud pushed at Zack some more until he was rewarded with some space.

"Nu-uh. They  _ love _ me out there!" Zack pointed to the living room behind him. Three goofballs were laughing on the couch, with Genesis in the middle as Angeal and Sephiroth made complicated knots with their fingers. Sephiroth smiled in that content way of his before Angeal leaned over and kissed him. 

The sight distracted Cloud from their conversation.

Angeal and Sephiroth had never been particularly good at expressing their feelings. Everyone had become nuanced in reading Angeal's frowns and Sephiroth’s subtle eyebrow ticks: the years that softened them made their smiles freer, their eyes gentler. 

When they were at Shinra, Angeal and Sephiroth had been distant friends glued together by Genesis. Both of them harbored feelings that weren’t platonic for each other and neither of them noticed. Unable to say how they felt, it wasn't until Sephiroth followed them to their little farm that they got a chance to understand each other: to be more than awkward, mutual crushes. 

Cloud remembered how he got to watch Angeal and Sephiroth fall in love. Back then, Angeal had been helping Sephiroth adjust to civilian life when they just happened to fall into a haystack together and when Cloud found them: they had been just staring into each other’s eyes like the world had stood still. 

Cloud remembered that Zack had just challenged him and he had to give that shit some snark.

Cloud couldn't be glib about the beautiful thing between them, even when it was part of a bet. Every so often he was reminded of how fragile everything had once been. Zack made light of the things that meant the most to him, it was just his way. It wasn’t Cloud’s.

The words wouldn't come until Genesis wiggled between Angeal and Sephiroth and pulled them into a hug full of laughter. Cloud refocused on Zack. 

"It's no contest," Cloud said. "I'll smoke you."

"Oooh! Biker talk!" Zack smirked, like that wasn't a phrase he himself used all the damn time. "Kinda hot."

Cloud leaned in, Zack did too. 

"Loser has to kiss the winner. Wherever they pick." Cloud blew the words into Zack's lips. 

Zack smile was positively devious. 

"You're on! You'll never guess where you'll have to kiss me!" Zack said it like Cloud hadn't kissed all of Zack at least once before. 

“Standard rules?”

"Deal!"

"Deal."

They shook on it. 

Zack didn't even wait for Cloud to pull his hand away before he was speeding out of the kitchen.

Everyone thought that Zack would settle as he got older: slow down, take his time, think ahead more, plan things a little better. Zack only did one of those things nowadays. Zack still thought he was more efficient when he flew by the seat of his pants.

Thus Zack took center stage under the mistletoe. With an irresistible kissy face, Zack waited for an easy victory.

"What - what are you doing?" Angeal said with bubbling laughter. Angeal's laughs were always infectious, just like his smiles: resonating in your chest and making you feel full.

"I'm waiting under the mistletoe!" Zack displayed his perfectly kissable cheeks with a wave of a hand. 

"Come over here!" Angeal waved him over. Genesis just quirked a brow at the proceedings, arms still full of cuddle monkeys. "If you want a kiss you should go where the people are."

"Yeah, Zack," Cloud said, delivering a tray of cookies to the coffee table looking incredibly smug. Everyone was always hot for the delivery boy and Cloud knew it. "You should come to where the people are."

"Thank you darling." Genesis reached up and pulled Cloud down for a chaste kiss. 

Genesis had always been the most affectionate of the group, always free with kisses and touches wherever they were. Cloud could always count on him to warm him up inside. Because Genesis was a lot like a fire during the first snowfall of the season: a soothing heat that calmed the nerves and quieted bad thoughts. 

Genesis and Cloud hadn’t dated before they left Shinra. But they had almost been a thing. Cloud hadn't been able to resist him: the SOLDIER First whotook Cloud under his tutelage. Genesis was blindingly bright in wit and strength. Cloud had barely made it into SOLDIER so he’d always worried that he wasn’t living up to Genesis’s expectations when they were apart; when Genesis was with him none of that mattered. The only that Cloud could focus on was Genesis: his words, his guidance, and his power. 

Of course that all changed when Cloud and Angeal left Shinra. Genesis hadn't gone with them. Oh, he’d been angry. So angry that he refused to speak to either of them for nearly a year. It took even longer to go from chilly conversation to pleasantries.Cloud had missed Genesis deeply: being with Angeal didn’t soothe the same cracks in his heart. All of them kept living, and moving on, and accepted the way things were. 

And then Genesis left Shinra. If Deepground had never come to light he probably never would have left. Lab children cloned from Genesis’s cells, a fleet of broken people mutated by using Genesis’s cells, and a desire to roll all of them into SOLDIER - Cloud couldn’t blame Genesis for leaving. Genesis had moved in with them, broken and angry; they help put him back together and find a new place in the world. 

With Genesis back in Cloud’s life, there wasn’t much to smother their mutual attraction. That little flame that sparked the moment they met just grew and grew until - until Cloud could press another kiss on Genesis’s forehead just because he could. 

Alone, Zack pouted under the mistletoe. 

Cloud had expertly out maneuvered him. A cuddly Genesis was at his kissiest: Cloud would easily win the bet! Even if Genesis decided to turn his attention to someone else, Cloud could easily move onto snuggly Angeal, or smoochy Sephiroth (though Sephiroth was currently in the process of eating chocolate, and he usually didn't eat and give kisses at the same time). 

Zack had to up his game!

"Don't worry, Zack." Angeal finally took pity and got up from the couch. There was a smile on his face that made Zack's insides as ooey gooey as a s'more. "I'll spoil you." 

Zack waited until Angeal was in grabbing distance before yanking on those ridiculous suspenders. Angeal had really embraced that whole farmer chic look ever since he became an actual farmer: it was practically scandalous how good farming looked on Angeal. 

Angeal got in close before he cupped Zack's face. Thumbs traced the scars on Zack's cheeks- a map of all the dumb shit he'd ever done in his life - as Zack wrapped his arms around Angeal's back. 

Angeal leaned down for a kiss. 

Angeal and Zack had always fit together perfectly. Even back when Zack thought that there was no way Angeal could ever like him back, even back when Angeal was too afraid to admit his feelings. Now everytime they kissed, they kissed like nothing else mattered.

Zack was always single minded in his kisses: full of energy and ready to have fun. But Angeal always savored his kisses. It was like each time they kissed it was a blessing that Angeal had to stop and appreciate. Even Zack slowed down to enjoy it. 

These kisses always reminded all of them what might have never been, of the Zack-shaped hole that might have been.

Angeal and Zack had the rockiest start of all of them. Sure there had been offs and ons as they slowly and surely came together as a group through the years: fights misunderstandings, tears, and reunions. It had been hard but worth it.

Zack had almost never been a part of it. 

Angeal had left SOLDIER in Zack's care, so he stayed. He stayed when Sephiroth left, stayed when Genesis left, stayed when the broken souls of Deepground became part of his team, and only left when SOLDIER was dissolved. By the time Angeal and the others welcomed Zack into their home, he didn't know how to be anything other than a soldier.

Zack and Angeal had begun navigating that strange place between mentor-student, former co-workers, long time friends, and roommates. Not to mention that Angeal had been in a heart achingly beautiful relationship with three other men. There were so many things that almost didn't happen, things like kissing Angeal, things like being able to tell all of these men just how much he loved them.

Oh Zack would have been friends with all of them still, would have loved them with all of his platonic heart and nursed the ache he would pretend was jealousy. It would have been the same as it had always been - which is to say not very good at all. This: life in a cabin on a farm, with the men who made Zack’s heart melt with love - was pretty damn good. 

Angeal always liked to remind them to appreciate stuff like that. Angeal was very good at it.

Sephiroth, overcome with feelings, leaned over and kissed Genesis. Angeal’s kisses were like a little love infection, they tended to do that. There was chocolate on Sephiroth’s lips, smearing with Genesis'. It was one of the things that he only allowed with Genesis, that closeness of smudging routines and details with closeness. Sephiroth would simply present a cheek to anyone else if they wanted a kiss while he was eating. 

Cloud watched this moment from a handspan away. It flooded his heart with warmth. 

Sephiroth and Genesis had always been close - even when Genesis had pushed Sephiroth away and Sephiroth had been too awkward to make his feelings understood. They probably hadn’t understood how close they were until Sephiroth left Shinra. Genesis was bitter at being left behind even when all the PR showered him with affection. All that confused frustration - the envy, attraction, and awe - was taken out on Zack (who was nothing if not always a good sport). 

When Genesis learned about Deepground everything changed. Slowly, of course. For all his fiery temper Genesis was surprisingly slow at changing his ways. Angeal, Sephiroth, and Genesis had become a unit as they came to terms with their pasts. And then Genesis and Sephiroth had finally figured out the words to express how much they’d fallen hopelessly in love with each other. 

It had been a privilege to watch these two men go from sword drawn rivals to this cuddly, heartfelt mess. Their relationship was a whirlwind of passion and romance: it would be dramatic if it weren't so adorable. 

Cloud couldn't bring himself to interrupt. Bet or no.

"Now Zack," Angeal said with that heart melting voice of his: just a hint of gruff and full of warmth, "You got your kiss. Come back to the couch with us."

Zack almost caved. Angeal cuddle piles were amazing - Angeal was a guy who was always in motion, sometimes slow enough that he’d be mistaken for standing still. Angeal lived his life sort of like a glacier: steadily moving towards his goal. From working the farm to lounging, Angeal would draw everyone in and set them at the right speed. It was relaxing and Zack loved falling into an Angeal cuddle pile. Nothing mattered once you were in his arms. 

Zack shook his head. This was a competition! A bet! Kisses were on the line!

"Or maybe you could give me another kiss under the mistletoe?" Zack pulled put the puppy dog eyes. 

Angeal just raised his brows. Zack saw the moment that Angeal decided that standing up and making out with one of his favorite people was not as appealing as sitting down and kissing them. The puppy dog eyes weren’t effective! Zack huffed.

Angeal ruffled Zack's hair like that would make up for everything. Zack still didn't know what people's deal with was his hair. Sure he'd gone from spending hours on his hair to letting it go from one bad haircut to the next until he looked like some sort of hedgehog. Though with those gray hairs maybe more like a skunk? 

Zack grabbed at Angeal's hands, intent to capture them and keep Angeal cuddly and all to himself. 

"Aww come on." Zack pouted, but Angeal was unphased. 

"If you want kisses you have to sit with us." Angeal winked and sauntered back to the couch

Zack pouted his most adorable pout. Everyone was much more interested in Angeal's smirk. He was criminally attractive when he was being a troll.

When Angeal settled into the couch he gave Genesis one kiss, and then another for good measure. One of his tanned arms wrapped around Genesis’ shoulders to keep him close while Genesis chuckled lowly. Angeal complained he tasted like chocolate.

There was just something magical about seeing Genesis and Angeal together. They always just seemed to disappear into their own little world. Cloud was always struck by the image of the two of them kissing under the Banora Apple trees - they did it often enough, having picnics in the yard and watching the sky through the curving branches.

Cloud had always thought that Genesis and Angeal getting together would be easy. He’d imagined it plenty of times with Angeal. They’d been fools in love back in Banora and feelings like that never fully fade. Things had gotten complicated at Shinra - from Genesis’ rivalry with Sephiroth, to the constant distance forced by missions, and the copious number of people who worshipped at Genesis’ feet. But the time Angeal left Genesis their relationship was strained at best; he rarely responded to Angeal’s letters. 

When Deepground surfaced, Genesis had called Angeal. It had been a heart wrenching call. Angeal went, alone, to rescue Genesis from Shinra, Buster Sword on his back. Genesis moved in with them. Things had already been complicated between Angeal and Genesis before the horrifying reality of their origin came to light, by then it was beyond explanation.

It was weird to think that Sephiroth had been the one to help pull them back together. And the three of them started to heal from their pasts, together. 

Cloud just wanted to kiss them all over. 

Sephiroth popped another chocolate as Angeal pulled away from Genesis. Cloud all but pounced on Angeal. 

"How about a cookie for all your hard work?" Because it was definitely hard work to say no to Zack.

Angeal smiled up at Cloud. It was one of those world stopping smiles and Cloud sucked in a breath. Time looked good on Angeal: he looked more like himself every passing year. From the wrinkles that dusted his eyes and highlighted their color, to the touch of gray on his scalp that made him look dashing, and the lines creasing his cheeks just made him that much more enchanting. Cloud wondered what sort of lines Angeal would have if hadn’t started smiling more than he frowned; Cloud wondered if they would be just as fun to kiss. 

The sudden memory of Angeal smiling at Cloud surfaced in his mind. The smile of relief and hope: the smile when they had decided to leave Shinra together. 

Back then they had been two SOLDIER in love, trying to wrangle the feelings they had for their closest friends and make sure they got back home in one piece every day. They’d been content with that. When President Evan Shinra took over, he offered all acting SOLDIER a pension. Cloud and Angeal hadn’t realized just how unhappy they were at Shinra until they had a chance to leave. 

It hadn’t been a spur of the moment decision nor had they been the first SOLDIER to take the offer. In the quiet of the night with hushed whispers, they talked about what would happen if they left Shinra. All they wanted was a plot of land far away from Midgar: big as they could afford. On that land they would build a house: a house big enough to hold all of their friends. 

Back then, for some reason, Cloud thought that everyone would leave Shinra with them. But no one had. Each of them had their own reasons for staying, just like he and Angeal had their own reasons for leaving. The parting had been bittersweet. Cloud had cried for the ache in his heart as much as the hope in his stomach. 

And now: here they were. Angeal was smiling, full of affection and without an inkling of stress, in the house they built together. In the house they shared with everyone they loved.

"Thank you, Cloud," Angeal took the cookie and pressed a knightly kiss to Cloud’s palm. It was absolutely criminal the way Angeal could make people’s hearts do acrobatics with every gesture.

Angeal’s kisses were always careful. Be it the wrist or the lips he treated them all like they were as delicate as handspun glass. Those kisses mended all the little breaks in Cloud’s heart. All the worries Cloud had - if his loves would get tired of waiting for his wandering self to come back, whether they liked the gifts he was able to bring back, if Cloud was doing enough for them - melted away. Cloud’s heart was repaired and his soul soothed.

“Angeal -” 

Cloud had forgotten all about the bet. Zack hadn’t. 

Zack barrelled over the coffee table with a ridiculous smile. 

Only years of training in handling delicate packages, dealing with obnoxious customers at Genesis’ brewery, and years of living with Zack kept Cloud from throwing the plate of cookies. 

Zack stopped short of the couch, legs bumping Genesis’ knees. Genesis just quirked a brow. The prized mistletoe was perched over Zack’s ear: not only was it a beautiful accent to his eyes but it was a surefire way to win the bet. Since no one had come to the mistletoe, Zack was bringing the mistletoe to them! Along with his adorably kissable self!

Could you really blame Zack? It was the perfect plan. Genesis  _ loved  _ to show off his kissing skills. Cheek kisses, lip kisses, kisses that lasted for hours - you name it and Genesis claimed to be the best at it. Of course Zack had to call him on it which resulted in a demonstration. If Zack could get a rise out of him the bet was as good as won!

"Ding ding ding! Travelling mistletoe has arrived! It's bad luck if you don't give me a kiss." Zack waggled his ears as he displayed the mistletoe. Genesis always got a kick out of ear wiggles. 

"Bad luck?" Genesis said with a small gasp. Always theatrical this guy. "Oh my, then I simply must give you a kiss!" 

Genesis reached up like the air was water: slow and gentle movements that would make the maidens in his plays weep with envy. Fingers brushed against the top of Zack’s turtleneck. Zack shivered at the touch. 

A little smirk was the only warning before Genesis yanked Zack down by the collar. Their faces all but collided. It was all narrowly avoided thanks to Zack’s heroic efforts of bracing himself on the couch with both arms before one of them broke a tooth. 

Genesis was a needy brat. Zack knew this and it made him smile to his ears.

Zack loved kissing Genesis. Every kiss made Zack feel like he could let go of everything: worries, responsibilities, expectations, anything and everything. Nothing mattered at all except for Genesis and the burn of where their bodies touched: the searing heat, the way a laugh bubbled in Genesis’ chest, the feeling of how perfect it was between them. 

Zack could remember the first time he met Genesis. Genesis had not only tripped him, but called him a dog - not even a dog but a puppy! Kissing the smirk off his face had been the furthest thing from Zack’s mind. The patch of time when they’d all been working at Shinra had been, well, rocky was one way to describe it but prank war was probably a better way to describe it. Things had only gotten worse after Angeal and Cloud left, and even worse after Sephiroth left. Suddenly things changed when Genesis, covered in shaving cream from a classic booby trapped supply locker scenario, pulled Zack in for a kiss that left him senseless. 

Every kiss after was a bit like the first one: needy, playful, and with a little more force than not. Being with Genesis made things feel like they could just stop mattering. Zack got to live in the moment and embrace being the brat Genesis always said he was.

After Genesis left Shinra, Zack was suddenly An Adult. The leader of the SOLDIER and the guide of the broken souls from Deepground. Angeal had given him the Buster Sword when Genesis left and the responsibility weighed heavily on his shoulders. Zack had missed being under Angeal’s care, had missed the way Genesis would make him feel free, had missed the connection between all of them. 

When Zack had finally left Shinra, he’d made a place in Angeal’s home. And there was Genesis, being his usual bratty self like years hadn’t happened since they last kissed. 

"There, we're saved from the mistletoe curse." Genesis said as he leaned back into the couch. One hand ran against Zack’s scalp while the other dexterously plucked the mistletoe. "I'll just take that so you can't do anymore harm."

"Genesis! You stole that!" Zack heaped on the drama even while he made himself more comfortable on the couch. One of his knees went between Genesis’ and the other bumped against Sephiroth’s thigh. Sephiroth didn’t mind much seeing as he pressed into the touch like a big cat. "You owe me another kiss! That stuff is expensive!" 

"Oh darling, I'm afraid this cuddle is remit of a kiss, isn't it? I think I'm all paid up." Genesis flicked his wrist and the mistletoe landed on the mantle like it had always belonged there. "It looks better there anyway. It clashed with your sweater."

Zack pouted. The mistletoe had been part of his grand plan. Leaving Cloud all the tools to play cookie delivery boy was really making this a challenge!

"Well maybe you should have kept it,” Zack attempted to salvage the situation. “You'd look great in it." 

Genesis was always weak to compliments. The right one might just win Zack a million kisses. 

“I look great in everything, darling,” Genesis fluffed his beautifully red hair like Zack hadn’t been trying to appeal to his vanity. Zack could swear it was getting redder every year but he had yet to find evidence that Genesis dyed it. “That’s old news. But I simply must stand out in this decor. Too much green.”

"You always stand out. No matter where you are." Zack went for a kiss but Genesis turned with a huff. Cheek kisses were still good, Genesis’ skin always tasted like apples. Zack was pretty sure it didn’t count for the win but he didn’t care.

"I bet you say that to all the boys." Genesis said drolly, pointedly keeping his lips out of kissing range. 

"Only the needy ones." Zack went in for another kiss before Genesis’s hand stopped him.

"Zack, stop being a brat," Angeal commanded next to him, cookie crumbs in his beard. He could have easily intervened if he really wanted to. Angeal never would. They all knew that one of his favorite past times was watching them bicker.

"I'm not a brat!" Zack could admit, privately and to himself, that he sounded like a brat. Publicly disclosing this emotion would only make Genesis smug.

"And I'm  _ not  _ needy," Genesis huffed. He sounded exactly like Zack felt and Zack felt his heart warm all over again. 

They continued to bicker. Angeal kept trying to contain them but never actually trying. Zack kept fishing for a kiss that probably wasn’t going to happen - but he was nothing if stubborn. 

Cloud, meanwhile, took the opportunity to deliver a cookie to Sephiroth. 

Sephiroth watched Genesis and Zack squabble serenely. Cloud knew there was no other place on the planet he wanted to be right now. Being with all of his boys and watching them interact was Sephiroth’s dream.

Sephiroth turned that smile full force on Cloud. Cloud’s heart melted all over.

"How about a sample of your hard work, hand delivered by yours truly?" Cloud offered a snowflake cookie, perfectly frosted and brushed with color. Sephiroth made hundreds of these over the holidays like he was a factory of one. They never lost their charm no matter how often Cloud had them. 

"Thank you, Cloud." Sephiroth took one.

Cloud quickly got lost in Sephiroth’s eyes. Sephiroth didn’t have any bags under them anymore. Not like the racoon look Sephiroth used to covered up every morning when he first moved in. It had taken years for them to fade while Angeal and Cloud helped him learn how to sleep deeper. 

Those first few months of their acquaintance had been strange. Cloud had gotten into SOLDIER through hero worship and sheer stubbornness. When he finally got to meet Sephiroth things had been awkward at best. Cloud had a lot of issues back then: trying to live up to unrealistic expectations, trying to fit in, and dealing with that whole hero worship for Sephiroth thing. Getting to meet Sephiroth had been a dream and a nightmare. Especially when the meeting had been on Angeal’s arm while Genesis smugly introduced him. 

For a long time, Cloud had thought the distance Sephiroth greeted him with was proof at how much of a failure Cloud was. It took a long time for Cloud to accept that Sephiroth didn’t hate him. That aloof distance was simply how Sephiroth lived his life: at arm’s reach. 

Leaving Shinra had been just as awkward as their first meeting. Sephiroth had given him a handshake that didn’t match the comradery Cloud thought they’d had. Only later would Sephiroth confess how abandoned the whole thing made him feel.

After that? Well, Cloud sort of expected to never see Sephiroth again. Sure Angeal had offered Sephiroth a place to stay if he ever wanted to take a break, but Cloud never expected Sephiroth to take him up on that. After all, Sephiroth was Shinra’s hero. Shinra was Sephiroth’s life and his life belonged to Shinra. Cloud accepted that.

Life went on, Cloud started building a house with Angeal, and then - then something unreal happened.

Sephiroth took a vacation. One day he showed up at their doorstep in his SOLDIER leathers and a go bag. When Angeal asked, Sephiroth said that he wanted to get away from the prank war. It had sounded like such a flimsy excuse. Angeal didn’t care. 

Cloud remembered showing Sephiroth around. Cloud had felt distinctly under-dressed in his overalls and equipped with only a hammer while Sephiroth’s duster swept the sawdust. The walls were still going up in the house. Cloud dutifully pointed out the rooms and their purposes and future amenities. When Cloud showed the room they were building for Sephiroth, Sephiroth stopped and stared. Sephiroth’s eyes had been large and adoring. Cloud hadn’t been able to tell how deeply Sephiroth was moved, only that he had been. 

Then they set up the tents and Sephiroth happily let Angeal set him to work on building. 

Sephiroth had handed in his resignation as soon as he returned to Shinra. 

Sephiroth and Cloud had come together in fits and starts. Angeal had been the glue for them for a long while, until all of them could actually express their feelings. Which considering how hard it had been for Cloud and Angeal to begin with: it took a while. 

Cloud bent for a kiss and Sephiroth accepted eagerly. Sephiroth’s free hand was at Cloud’s elbow, steadying and reassuring. Cloud didn’t need it, not really. But the extra care still made butterflies flutter in Cloud’s stomach. 

If anyone ever asked who Cloud loved the most, Cloud would lie to their face: he loved everyone of his dorks equally. Secretly, Cloud felt the deepest connection with Sephiroth.

It was there in every touch, every kiss. They were like two lost souls that were bound together by something so deep that neither could fully understand or explain. When they had finally come together, it had been when they needed each other the most, supporting in a way that no one else quite understood. Each kiss reminded Cloud of the mutual quiet and the peace they shared together. Sephiroth’s kisses tasted like the sky, like the night air and the glimmer of stars reflecting on a tranquil lake. They stilled Cloud’s heart and Cloud forgot everything but the sensation of Sephiroth. 

As Cloud and Sephiroth let the world fall away, Genesis shoved Zack off his lap. Zack squaked and flailed but ultimately lost his spot.

Honestly, Zack didn’t mind getting shoved around. Rough housing was all good fun; Genesis was the only one who bothered to handle him like that nowadays. It wasn’t like Genesis was stronger he just liked to be that much of a brat. The lazy bum just sat around his brewery making cider and chatting with customers while Zack was busy being a badass mercenary. If they really made a contest of it Zack could trounce Genesis easily. 

So, yeah, he could take a little shove. Especially when he got a patented Genesis smirk out of it. 

Zack did, however, notice that Cloud was currently in the process of taking over Sephiroth’s brain with adorableness. That wouldn’t do. Sephiroth was an infinity kisser if he wasn’t eating (which he had been, so Zack avoided him because Sephiroth always picked chocolate over Zack breath). 

“Aw, no fair! Can I get a kiss, too, babe?” Zack pulled out his best pout and waited for it to zing. 

It worked wonders. Sephiroth was distracted from Cloud and his big beautiful eyes were all on Zack now. 

Cloud glared. Zack  _ knew _ that little shit was in the lead, but Zack wasn’t going to let him get away with it. Besides, he had Sephiroth’s attention and Sephiroth’s smile was like the eighth wonder of the world. 

“Come here, Zack.” Sephiroth waved a cookie laden hand, other one stlil occupied with Cloud. 

Cloud knew he had lost Sephiroth’s attention completely. Sephiroth was by far the most adept at sharing the two of them. If Zack successfully butt in, Sephiroth would just swap kisses between them and they’d be at a stalemate.

“How about some chocolate?” Cloud pulled some up from the bowl, unwrapped and ready. It was right at Sephiroth’s lips and all Sephiroth had to do was eat it. If he did: Zack wouldn’t get any kisses and Cloud would win. 

Sephiroth gave Cloud a funny look. 

“No cheating Spike!” Zack clambered onto Sephiroth, wrapping his arms around Sephiroth’s shoulders possessively. Cloud was forced to move away. “Lemme get my kiss!” 

Sephiroth chuckled and it rumbled in Zack’s chest pleasantly. 

Zack loved making Sephiroth laugh. For a bit, it had been everything he lived for (along with pranking Genesis). After Cloud and Angeal left, Zack had been thrust into the spotlight as Angeal’s successor. Zack hadn’t known Sephiroth very well until rank made them equals, even if Zack never quite felt like it. But Zack knew just enough to understand that Sephiroth was hurting - a lot. Zack went to great lengths to keep Sephiroth smiling. Not because it was good PR, but because he just hated how melancholy Sephiroth was. That, and, well he had a heart breaker of a smile.

Zack and Sephiroth had orbited each other for a long while - awkward friends, forced distance at work, and then slow understanding that Sephiroth was in a ployamorous relationship with Zack’s closest friends. It had taken more than a few visits to finally figure that last one out. 

When Zack finally left Shinra (eventually, finally, only because SOLDIER was dissolving) and ended up being Sephiroth’s roommate, Zack found himself doing everything he could to make Sephiroth laugh all over again. Not even a decade had changed that. 

Once Zack had fallen into Angeal, Zack fell into everyone else pretty quickly. Sephiroth, ever patient, had been the last to confess. Apparently if Zack hadn’t been with Genesis way back when, Sephiroth would have tried. Sephiroth hadn’t wanted to interrupt. The confession had made Zack’s heart bleed through his eyes and all Zack could do was kiss him.

Just like the way Sephiroth was kissing Zack now.

This kiss was like every other kiss they had: as special as snow. Every snowfall took Zack’s breath away. It didn’t matter how far he travelled or how many times he saw it, Zack never got bored of it. Each little snowflake was its own magical thing, unique and complicated work of awe. It melted as soon as Zack touched it. 

Being with Sephiorth was like that: knowing that a miraculous wonder of nature, complex and nuanced with a million things going on in his head, would just stop and melt into you if you just reached out a hand. It was soothing, peaceful, and always like the breath of a new morning. 

Zack broke the kiss and suddenly the contest didn’t seem to matter much anymore as long as he could keep kissing Sephiroth. 

Cloud popped back into Zack’s vision with a chocobo shifty smile.

“I’ll take that chocolate now,” Sephiroth said pleasantly, happy to have his arms full of boyfriend. Sephiroth was easy like that. 

“I’ll hand deliver it,” Cloud smiled, “if you pay me with a kiss.” 

“You weren’t charging anything a second ago.” Zack huffed. 

“Of course I was, the first law of supply and demand.” 

“Children, children, please,” Genesis pulled at Zack’s turtleneck until he was half spilled into Genesis’ lap. Zack didn’t mind, Genesis was comfy, and also very liberal with kisses. “I think it’s time you stopped with your shenanigans.” 

“What shenanigans?” Cloud asked, a little too innocently. That made Angeal narrow his eyes suspiciously. 

“Yeah we didn’t have a bet or anything.” Zack covered quickly. 

“Zack!” Cloud hissed. 

“What?” Zack looked over his shoulder like there was no reason everyone else shouldn’t know. Zack was still a little slow like that.

“A bet about who could get the most kisses, wasn’t it?” Genesis said like he had known the whole time. Which - oh, of course he did, why wouldn’t he?

Zack and Cloud shared a look: they always forgot how much Genesis loved to eavesdrop. 

Angeal snorted. “Really? The most kisses?” It was by far not the stupidest bet they’d made, nor even the stupidest bet they’d made that involved other boyfriends without their knowledge. Angeal definitely knew this.

“Yeah!” Zack pumped a fist. “I got one amazing kiss from each of my most amazing people! So I win!”

“No, Zack, we tied.” Cloud huffed. “We got 3 each before you snitched.” 

“Obviously I won.” Angeal said. 

“You  _ gave _ kisses. Those don’t count!” Zack pointed an accusing finger.

Angeal pouted. It was adorable.

“I think I won.” Sephiroth said. “I ate the most chocolate kisses.” 

“You can’t - that doesn’t count either!” Zack huffed. 

“Yeah, you have to be given kisses by someone in our relationship.” Cloud gestured to all of them.

Sephiroth looked between them all. He paused, calculating. Sephiroth turned his head at Genesis expectantly.

“Oh, why, yes, darling. I  _ did _ win. Thank you for noticing.” Genesis smiled deviously. “I got one from each of you, and a few more when you two weren’t paying attention.” 

“Boo! Genesis always wins.” Zack said it, but he really wasn’t mad. Genesis was by far the most competitive and underhanded member of their fivesome. He could always tell when something was afoot. Zack couldn’t believe he hadn’t factored that in. 

“What’s my prize darlings?” 

“Kisses. Wherever you choose, from the losers.” Cloud offered. 

“Well then! I want kisses from all of you right now.” Genesis looked so satisfied as he said it that no one could refuse him. 

Angeal grumbled that he hadn’t even been competing, but he still moved anyway. 

Zack kissed at Genesis’s jaw that smelled like after shave and apples. Angeal his apple flushed cheek, and Sephiroth the other. Cloud, the only one still standing, kissed at his forehead that smelled like spices from his home made brews. 

Genesis savored the sensation of being loved before pulling them all into a tangled mess, laughing all the way. Cloud - the only one with sense - managed to put the plate of cookies down before he landed on top of Zack. 

They all agreed: all bets were off the rest of the night. 


End file.
